what is a coltriever?

The Coltriever is a hybrid combining the intelligence of a Border Collie and love of a Golden Retriever

The Coltriever is the result of the responsible breeding of quality Border Collie and Golden Retriever adults.

Our dogs come from established healthy lines and are bred for temperament and health with longevity in mind.

The Coltriever is an amazing breed that is intelligent, obedient, loving and agile. They are good natured, friendly, loyal, and playful and make wonderful companions for families or singles. They are incredibly intuitive and smart and have been used as therapy dogs for autism and as alert dogs for diabetes as well as other types of services.

They offer a lovely balance of love and loyalty, yet they are brilliant in their capability to think and problem solve. They make incredible companions.

These beautiful dogs closely resemble the Golden Retriever in terms of their shape and coat but are smaller than a typical retriever. The ears can vary a little in shape as well as the muzzle; some having more narrow and pointy nose feature like that of the border collie.

Their colors can vary from black, black and white, shades of gold, gold with white markings, as well as apricot red. Coltriever’s have a double coat; a soft downy undercoat and the longer shiny outer one. They are moderate shedders and like most dogs will blow their coats twice a year (spring and fall).

Upon maturation, Coltrievers grow to be about the size of a small Golden Retriever. Males vary from 55-75 pounds and the females on average are about 55 pounds.

They are very intelligent, and with consistent follow through and training they make for obedient dogs that aim to please. The Coltriever doesn’t have the high-strung temperament that Border Collies are often known for. They are most like Golden Retrievers in temperament and disposition but yet have a little more independence and balance emotionally.

The intelligence of this breed requires time, attention and consistency especially when they are puppies. Like Cesar Millan says, dogs need boundaries, rules and limitations first and then love and affection. They need you to be the "calm assertive" leader, so they can be the "calm submissive" follower. Without clear and firm boundaries chaos will soon reign. When you are the clear leader in charge, they wont feel the need to fill in as one. Leadership first, then love and attention. Balance is key.

Our dogs are given an incredible solid foundation with early neurological stimulation, age appropriate desensitization and extensive socialization. We utilize a program called Puppy Culture. By the time these puppies go home they will have started potty training and as well as obedience training where they learn to mand (manding or having them sit when they want attention).

All our dogs live with us and are a part of our family and do not live in a kennel. We put countless hours into each puppy so that they will have the best possible start in life. The first 12 weeks of a puppy's life is a crucial developmental window--when gently take advantage of--helps prepare them to be more resilient, confident dogs, enabling them to unleash their puppy potential! We give you the tools to pick up where we left off.

Our puppies are litter box trained and have learned to potty on wood shavings. This makes potty training ideal as they have already learned and practice how to hold their bodily urges and regularly eliminate away from their den space.

We take responsibility for every puppy. We will take them back at any age and re-home them. Our commitment is to never have one of our Coltriever’s in an animal shelter. *Liberty Farm is one of the only places in BC that is breeding Coltreivers.

We also offer LIFETIME support if you need it. We want every dog to thrive, so we make sure we are available in the future to answer your questions or address any concerns.

Each puppy comes with... a one-year health guarantee against genetic defects. A health and immunization record. A welcome home gift bag loaded with important information on getting your puppy started in your home, and a sample schedule for the first few months of their life. Puppies will have been vet checked, had their first immunizations and deworming.

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Happy Being Happy

7 week old Coltriever puppy from Mieka's litter

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Cowboy the Coltriever politely waiting for his dinner

Coltriever Puppy from Liberty Farm at 12 wks showing off his smarts!

how do I go about reserving a puppy?

deposits

Our puppies are $3000cdn*. We require a $500 deposit to reserve a puppy. This deposit is non-refundable (except in the case that the puppy you reserved becomes unavailable through sickness, death or injury). We do accept deposits before a litter is born, we maintain a waiting list for each litter. Before being put on a waiting list, you must be "approved" by us either by phone or email. The criteria for that are explained below.

*Americans are welcome! In an effort to protect my mentor's business, located in Washington, US funds are considered at par with Canadian funds.

The waiting list puts you on a priority list for a litter. Since we want to provide the absolute best matches between puppy and owner we are very purposeful in our matching process and actually do not do picking merely by colour. We believe dogs, like people have personalities and temperaments, so matching a puppy with similar temperament and drive to their owner is very important to us. We have had very positive results this way. We can of course prioritize whether male or female, but our first priority is to find the best match possible for you and your family.

before placing a deposit

We do have a questionnaire. Before we put you on a waiting list, we have a few questions we need to ask, just to make sure our puppies are a good fit with your family. The most important one has to do with your daily routine. Is there a person or another dog that is home all day during the day? We have a strict policy that we do not sell a puppy into a home where he or she will be left alone for several hours each day. Coltrievers are very social dogs, puppies especially. They are babies, and simply cannot be left alone for hours at a time. We'd be happy to explain that policy in detail over the phone. There are no exceptions made for this rule.

picking a puppy

The pups cannot be handled until they are at least 6 weeks old. This is when their immune systems become a little more robust and their personalities begin to emerge. Before that time you can watch from a distance, interacting with us and with each other, and meet the parents, you just can't handle them.

We take photos at birth and at 2-3 weeks when eyes are opened and post them. These are group shots. By about four weeks old, we post individual photos. At 5 weeks the puppies' personalities begin to emerge. Just like people, puppies have temperaments that vary. There is a process we go through to match the right puppy to their new owner. We want to make sure there is a great fit. This is why simply picking by color preference is not something we do. The picking process order is determined by your position on the waiting list, as explained above.